Can Microsoft lawyers defeat Putin’s most notorious spy-hackers?

Russian’s spy-hackers have taken on almost a mythical status as more details have emerged about how they hacked the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign and influenced the last presidential election. The National Security Agency and the entire U.S. intelligence community seem to be a step behind them, and the worst may be yet to come.

And now comes an unlikely potential savior: Microsoft’s lawyers. They’re using a combination of cyber-sleuthing and innovative legal filings to strike at one of Russia’s most dangerous cyber-espionage groups, Fancy Bear. So far, the tactic is paying off. But it’s not clear that Microsoft can defeat the hackers in the long run.

Russian’s spy-hackers have taken on almost a mythical status as more details have emerged about how they hacked the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign and influenced the last presidential election. The National Security Agency and the entire U.S. intelligence community seem to be a step behind them, and the worst may be yet to come.

And now comes an unlikely potential savior: Microsoft’s lawyers. They’re using a combination of cyber-sleuthing and innovative legal filings to strike at one of Russia’s most dangerous cyber-espionage groups, Fancy Bear. So far, the tactic is paying off. But it’s not clear that Microsoft can defeat the hackers in the long run.